Rotary compressor lubrication



Sept. 28, 1948.

E. L. FABlAN ROTARY COMPRESSOR LUBRICATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 15, 1944 INVENTOR. fmi/ L. Fab/0n BY MAM, xfw

ATTORNEYS Sept. 28, 1948.

E. L. FABIAN ROTARY COMPRESSOR LUBRICATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 13, 1944 7 INVENTOR. 507/] L. Fab/0n TOR/V r5 I Patented Sept. 28, 1948 UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE RGTARY COMPRESSOR LUBRICATION Emil L. Fabian, Vallejo, Calif.

Application March 13, 1944, Serial No. 526,261 2 Claims. (01. zet -20 n The present invention relates to improvements in 'a rotary compressor, and it consists of the eentmations, constructions and arrangements hereinafter described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a rotary compressor in which the pumping unit has two arcuate pistons, each of which has a length less than 180. Novel means is provided for continuously moving the pistons around an annular cylinder and for moving them at different speeds with respect to each other so that at one point of the cycle, one pair of adjacent piston ends will be spaced from each other to form a pocket that will receive fluid or gas from an inlet passage. During the further movement of the pistons, this pocket will be gradually reduced in size and when the operating mechanism has advanced through a half circle, the pocket will be completely closed for expelling the trapped fluid or 'gas from the pocket into the outlet passage. As one pocket is slowly closing for discharging fluid or gas into the outlet passage, another pocket terms by the other pair of piston ends will be gradually opening to receive fluid or gas from the inlet passage.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described in which there are no reciprocating parts and in whichthe size of the fluid or gas receiving pockets can be altered. for varying the capacity of the device for pumpmg. The device may be reversed in its operation for reversing the flow of fluid or gas in the passages so that what was formerly the inlet passage now becomes the outlet passage and what was formerly the outlet passage now becomes the in-' let passage.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the device will berpa'rticularly pointed out-in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanyih'g drawings forming a part of this application, inwh'ich': V v

7 Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the devme;

Figure 2 is an and elevation of the device when looking atthe right hand end of Figure 1 Figure 3" is a horizontal section taken substan tially along the line 3-'"3 of Figure 1 and showing certain of the parts in elevation;

Figure 4 is a transverse section taken along the line"4-4 of Figure 1;

Figurefi is a section taken substantially along the line 55 of Figure 3;

V. 2 5 I Figure '6 i'fs'a transverse section taken alone the line 6:6 or Figure 1;

Fig f6 is ah 8 d elevation of the pistlls showing the piston'seanng iiieiiibers received'iii grooves; a w

s Figure 3 s a ibiigit'udmal section thr'oiieh the are atj i stolls ah d t aliell albhg the lilli 8 B of f' 7 f6 illustrating the piston Sealing filfil bets; and v Figure!) is a sc'h'e'riiatic showing oi:' .the piston e-ra ing i neclfanisni illustrating how the pistons alternately accelerated. and decelerated in tee r I have shown only the preferred form of invention, it should he understood that varous changes or modifications may be made within the scope 'of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of the inveritioii.

I "iffg out rfiy inventma provide a c asmg in cated generally at A and this casing has a pump or eoiiipr'essorsectlion shown at Al and a showman A2 for receiving the piston pei'ati'ng mechanism; It best to describe the p or compressor unit first and then to describe the iiiifatin mechanism.

Compressor unit Figure 6 I show a transverse sectio the prime orcdinpressor section Al and it win be aota from this figure and from Figure 1 that a driven shaft I is rotatably mounted in a bearing 2', the bearin being" secured to the sect'iori Al by screws 3 or other suitable fastenin as The shaft I has an enlarged cylindrical portion that has an arcuate piston B (rectangular in cross section)" rigidly secured thereto by screws 5 or oth'ersifi'table fastening means. The inner periphery of the piston B has the same radius as the shaft portion 4 and fits against this portion. The outer periphery 1 of the piston Bis arcuatein shape and has a radius equal to the radius or the inner periphery 8 of the compressor se" ionf Al. The length of the piston B is less th l while the width of the piston is subst' tially the same as the width of the annular 03 that a rotation of the shaft I will rotate the piston B in the annular continuous cylinder C.

A hollow shaft 9 is rotatably mounted on the r'ediied portion of the shaft l and has an enlarged cylindrical portion ID of the same size as the portion The portions 4 and 10 have their adjacent ends abutting each other and they ex- Fat 6 tend from end to end of the compressor section Al. .n. second arcuate piston B of the same shape and size as the piston B is secured to the portion II] by screws ll, so that a rotation of the hollow shaft =9 will cause a similar'rotation of the piston B. Reference to Figure 6 shows the compressor section AI being provided with a fluid or gas inlet passage l2 and a fluid or gas outlet passage l3, the inlet being disposed about 180 away from the outlet. A recess [2a. formed in the periphery 8 communicates with the inlet [2 and a recess 13a formed in the periphery 8 coinmunicates with the outlet 13. The recess [3a extends from the outlet I3 to a short distance from the inlet l2 and the recess I2a extends from the inlet I2 to a short distance from the outlet l3.

Piston actuating means I will now describe the means for moving the pistons in the cylinder and for causing them to move relative to each other for forming pockets in the cylinder and between the piston ends, the pockets being at their maximum capacities when they pass the inlet I2 and entirely collapsed when they pass the outlet 43. In Figure 1, I show a drive-shaft l4 that is eccentrically mounted in a bearing l5. The bearing is secured to the housing A2 by cap screws IE or other suitable fastening means. The shaft M has a lever ll connected thereto so as to rotate therewith. The ends of the lever I! have links l8 and I9 pivotally secured thereto at and 2|. The link l8 has its free end pivotally secured to an arm 22 at 23, see Fi ure 4, while the link I9 has its free end pivotally secured to an arm 24 at 25. The arm 22 is rigidly secured to the driven shaft I. It will be noted from Figure 1 that the axis of the shaft i4 is eccentric to the axis of the shaft l.

A rotation of the drive-shaft I4 will cause the lever I! to move the links [8 and I9 and the arms 22 and 24 in a peculiar manner. This movement will cause the pistons to move relative to one another and the piston ends will form pockets D and D therebetween that Will be at their greatest capacity when disposed opposite the inlet l2 and will be entirely closed when disposed opposite the outlet I3. I show a diagrammatic sketch in Fi ure 9 in which the eccentric lever l 7 (shown by a single line) is moved through an arc of substantially 90 (shown by a broken line) to illustrate two difierent relative positions of the arms 22 and 24 (shown by single lines and broken lines). Since the pistons B and B are directly connected to the arms, they will be moved in the same manner as the arms are moved. Figure 9 corresponds to Figure 4, and shows the parts rotatin in a counterclockwise direction when looking at the left hand end of Figure 1, and this is depicted as a clockwise rotation in Figure 6 because these parts are being viewed from the opposite end of the machine; i. e., the opposite end of Figure 1.

During the rotation of the lever 11 through 90, the point 20 advances one fourth the distance on the circle a, and the point 23 will advance a similar distance on the circle b which will be more than 90 because the circle I) (which is the path taken by the arms 22 and 24) is smaller in diameter than thecircle a (which is the path taken by the ends of the lever H). In like manner, the point 25 will be advanced more than 90 on the circle I) while the point 2| moves through an arc of 90 on the circle a. The two circles 11 and b are not only of diiferent diameters, but their centers are spaced apart. The centers are so placed that portions of the two circles disposed at the top of Figure 9- will lie closest to each other.

4 This will cause the arm 24 to swing through a greater arc, during the swin of the lever l1, than the arm 22; and the piston B, connected to the arm 24 through the shaft I will move faster than the piston B, and this will close the pocket D This faster movement of the piston B over the piston B will continue while the lever ll swings through an arc of and at the completion of the swing, the pocket D will be entirely closed and the pocket D fully opened. The next half circle swing of the lever I! will reverse the relative movements of the pistons. While both pistons will continue rotating in a clockwise direction when looking at Figure 6, the piston B will move faster than the piston B and the pocket D will be gradually closed while the pocket D will be gradually opened.

Referring to Figure 6, it will be noted that the clockwise rotation of the pistons will cause the pockets to receive the gas or fluid from the inlet l2 and force it out through the outlet [3. The device acts as a compressor in this way. There is no reciprocation of the parts, yet a pumping or compressing action is achieved. This is a vital improvement over the usual reciprocating piston compressor or the rolator or planetary piston type of compressor. The compressor can be reversed in operation.

In Figures 7 and 8, I show the arcuate pistons B and B provided with sets of oil sealing members arranged adjacent to the ends of the pistons. Each set is identical so a description of one will suffice for all. Figure 8 shows a bar 26 extending across the piston B and receivable in a groove 26a. A corrugated spring 261) is placed in the groove and urges the bar against the inner peripheral wall 8. Radially extending bars 21 are placed in grooves 21a and corrugated springs 27b urge the bars into contact with the adjacent walls of the annular cylinder C. Another bar 260 paralleling the bar 25 bears against the cylindrical portion 10 of the hollow shaft 9. The similar bar 260 on the piston B bears against the enlarged portion of the driven shaft l. The abutting ends of the bars are formed with half-lap joints so that a continuous sealing member will be provided adjacent to each end of each piston.

It is possible to have the pistons B and B operate in a dry condition when it is desired to pump a gas. The operating parts contained in the housin A2 are immersed in oil or other lubricant and a' bearing 28 prevents the oil from passing into the annular cylinder C. The bearing 28 r0- tatably supports the hollow shaft 9. Oil or lubricant passageways 29 are provided in the pump or compressor section Al at points where they will not interfere with the movement of the pistons B and B along the annular cylinder, see Figure 6. A cap 38 is placed over the bearing 2 and is secured to the section Al by cap screws 3|. The cap 30 constitutes an oil reservoir and will keep the shaft I lubricated at all times. The oil or lubricant can pass from the housing A2 into the interior of the cap 30 and vice versa to keep all of the parts lubricated. At the same time the bearings 2 and 28 will prevent the oil from entering the annular cylinder C. If desired, oil seals (not shown), may be provided between the bearings 2 and 28 and the pump or compressor section Al. The housing A2 has a' cover plate 32 by means of which oil or lubricant may be added.

I claim:

1. In combination; a valveless rotary compressor comprising an endless annular cylinder having an inlet and an outlet; a pair of pistons movable along the cylinder and forming gas or fluid-receiving pockets between their ends; a shaft rigidly connected to one of the pistons for moving it in the cylinder; a hollow shaft enclosing a portion of the first shaft and being rigidly connected to the other piston for moving it; arms for rotating said shafts; links for actuating the arms; an eccentric shaft; a member rotated by the eccentric shaft and being connected to the links for causing the latter to accelerate and decelerate the pistons in a predetermined manner for causing the piston ends to form pockets which will vary in size for drawing the gas or fluid into the inlet and for exhausting it through the outlet; a lubricant-receiving compartment housing the arms, links and member for lubricating these parts constantly, a bearing for the hollow shaft and sealing off the compartment from the cylinder for preventing the lubricant from reaching the cylinder or pistons; a bearing for the first shaft; a second lubricant-receiving compartment housing the last-named bearing for lubricating it constantly; the second bearing sealing off the second compartment from the cylinder; and lubricant-conveying passages placing the compartments in communication with each other and passing around the cylinder so that the lubricant in the first compartment will flow to the second one to keep the parts in each compartment lubricated.

2. In a rotary valveless compressor, a casing having an annular cylinder therein, pistons movable in the cylinder, 3, pair of shafts rigidly connected to the pistons for moving them, means disposed on one side of said cylinder for rotating said shafts, a lubricant retaining reservoir housing said means and keeping said means lubricated, a bearing for one of said shafts disposed on the other side of the cylinder, a second lubricant retaining reservoir for housing said bearing, said casing having passages lying outside of the annular cylinder and placing the reservoirs in communication with each other for transmission of a lubricant without the lubricant entering the annular cylinder, said first named reservoir having a cover for permitting lubricant to be added as needed.

EMIL L. FABIAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 154,003 Beal Aug. 11, 1874 281,165 Villebonnet July 10, 1883 2,346,014 Downey Apr. 4, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 11,411 Great Britain 1906 399,956 Great Britain Oct. 19, 1933 664,023 France Apr. 16, 1929 6 2,934 France Aug. 11, 1930 

